Michael McElroy is Cardinal & Pine’s political correspondent. He is an adjunct instructor at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media, and a former editor at The New York Times.
Michael McElroy
Latest from Michael McElroy
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4 years after Dobbs, abortion rights in NC could play big role in 2026 election
Economic concerns have dominated the 2026 midterm elections, but reproductive rights remain a huge issue, and the party divide in NC is just as stark as in the days after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
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Trump is dragging NC Republicans underwater, poll shows
Democrat Roy Cooper has a 14-point lead over Republican Michael Whatley in NC’s US Senate race, a new Catawba College poll shows, as two-thirds of independent voters in the state disapprove of President Trump.
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Screwworms are vampire zombie monsters, but experts say NC doesn’t have to worry yet
Screwworms feed on living flesh, and though NC State experts told Cardinal & Pine that an outbreak here is unlikely, you might want to finish your lunch before reading why.
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Whatley backs Trump’s $1.8 billion fund that could give cash to Jan. 6 rioters
Though several congressional Republicans resisted the Trump administration’s efforts to pay supporters who had been convicted of crimes, Republican Michael Whatley has embraced them.
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Trump may dismiss rising costs, but they’re playing huge roles in the 2026 election
The president says he never thinks about how the Iran war is affecting household budgets, but the issue is top of the mind for North Carolinians ahead of the 2026 midterms.
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NC House boosts private school vouchers in override of Gov. Stein’s veto
Two former Democrats voted with Republicans to help provide federal tax credits to anyone donating to private school scholarship funds.
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Hantavirus poses little threat to North Carolina, Duke infectious disease expert says
A North Carolina resident was among the cruise passengers exposed to the deadly hantavirus outbreak, but Dr. Nicholas Turner of Duke University, told Cardinal & Pine why North Carolinians shouldn’t be worried.
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Republican budget deal is ‘smoke and mirrors,’ NC teachers say
The deal, announced this week by NC House Speaker Destin Hall and NC Senate leader Phil Berger would include 8% raises for teachers, but could create huge budget shortfalls in the years to come.
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Confronting the ghosts haunting healthcare in North Carolina
Cardinal & Pine’s Bad Medicine series sought to highlight the dangers that federal healthcare policy changes posed to North Carolina, especially its children. The series is ending, but the stories of courage and resolve endure.
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‘A lot of people are hurting’: Rising costs pummel North Carolinians, new report shows
A report from Defend America Action complies all the ways the Trump administration’s economic policies are “stoking a dire affordability crisis” in North Carolina.
